Idaho Social Studies 6-9.WH.3.1

Social StudiesGrades 6–9Economics

The Standard

Explain how people historically relied on their natural resources to meet their needs.

Idaho Content Standards: K-12 Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students explain how people in the past used nearby water, plants, animals, and soil to meet basic needs. They connect each resource to a use, such as Nile water for growing crops or mud for making bricks.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can explain how ancient Egyptian farmers used Nile water to grow food. They can name another resource, such as river mud, and tell how people used it to build homes.
Common Misconceptions: Students may call bread or bricks natural resources instead of things made from resources. They may say the Nile provided food without explaining fishing or farming.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Name two natural resources ancient Egyptians used. For each one, tell what people did with it and which need it met.

Lesson moves

Give pairs clay and straw to shape a model mud brick, then label the natural materials and the need for shelter.
Ask: How could a family living near the Nile get food from the river and the land beside it?
Hand out cards labeled Nile water, fish, mud, bread, and brick; students sort resources from products and match each to a need.
Show a photo of grocery store vegetables; students trace one crop back to soil and water, then compare it with Nile farming.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 6-9.WH.3.1, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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